Salzburg

I could hardly catch my breath after arriving in Sloterdijk station in Amsterdam. I should have listened to Riwe and Haris, who suggested me to catch a bus to go to the station, instead of riding the bicycle. But, riding the bicycle gave me more flexible time as I still wanted to stay at their house longer to play Uno game. That day was the first day of Eid Fitri, which we celebrated by cooking Indonesian food (me and Riwe cooked opor ayam, rendang, and sambal goreng ati that day), and inviting few friends to come along to eat and chat, such an intimate celebration in the faraway land from home. Little did I know that the station is quite far from their house, especially for a foreigner standard who does not really used to ride a bike everywhere like people in Netherland.

When we arrived, the bus that will brought me to Salzburg has not been arrived. I was relieved, although I still could feel the pain that caused by riding the bicycle too long (if you know what I mean). Couple minutes before we were still rushing to the station and I was bit afraid that the bus will left me. I can feel that all fats from rendang and opor were burning though. That was quite an exercise. Kudos to all Netherland people!

Strange statue and a giant chess-set in Salzburg.

The green Flixbus finally came. After exchanging good-byes, I boarded the bus and wanted nothing but a good sleep. The bus were packed with people. I actually prefer to ride a train, but since the cheapest option to go to Salzburg from Amsterdam is by riding the bus, I should accept the fact that I wouldn't be able to sleep properly.

So another solo journey just begun..

That night I realized that Germany was soooo huge, as to go to Austria from Netherland, I have to cross the Germany. And it took quite a long long time. My bus departed from Amsterdam at 8:45 PM and I arrived in Munich at 9:00 AM next day, where I need to hop into another bus to Salzburg. It was indeed an endless bus journey, although I experienced worst when me and my family rode our car from Medan to Padang for almost 24 hours.  I arrived in Salzburg around lunch time, I remember that my stomach was growling and I really wanted to take a shower so bad. 

This is the house where the famous composer, Mozarts, was born.

Hey, Mozart!

 

 

Mozart's duck.

After putting my things to the hostel and getting a nice cold shower, I wandered around the Salzburg town, looking for something to eat. I ate chicken burger and decided to get a cup of pistachio gelato from the ice cream stall just beside the burger joint. That day was really sunny, a nice gelato would be a great choice, I thought. That time I didn't realize that the combination of gelato and sunny weather was a bad idea for my sensitive throat. 

Salzburg was never in my list of destination to be honest. I decided to visit this city only because of my main destination, Hallstatt, which I visited in the next day, was closed to this city. Considering that the accommodation price is Hallstatt is far beyond of what I would refer as 'affordable', I decided to stay in Salzburg and have a day trip to Hallstatt. 

Apparently, Salzburg turned out to be more interesting than I thought it would be. It is a small city, which I like, though it was a bit crowded with tourists. I like that the buildings there have pastel-colored tone, and I like the alley that consists of lots of shops with vintage signs. I wandered around all day in Salzburg visiting here and here, with a dizzy head and the throat that starting to get sore. 

Those vintage signs though.

 

The park in Mirabell Palace. All people (including me) were just sitting there under the shades of tree, hiding from the sun.

Mirabell Palace

Spotted something familiar!

Pastel colored buildings